The Once and Future King
by Maximum James Black
Summary: Set after the final episode of Merlin. two young heroes are recruted by Merlin to travel back in time in order to save Arthur from Mordred and bring him to the future to save albion once again. Rated T for bad language.
1. Chapter 1

**The Once And Future King**

**Disclaimer: I don't on Merlin**

**anything with italics is in third person, anything without is younger Gwaine's point of view**

"It's almost ready." Merlin said as he stood up too fast almost hitting his head on the roof of the basement. He leaned over again looking at the device which was both magic and technology. the machine was supposed to take us back in time to when Merlin was working in the castle of Camelot. But I was, once again, having doubts about doing this.

"So remind me how it's supposed to work again?" I asked already knowing the answer but still slightly doubtful of the method.

"You've asked this tons of times Gwaine, you know the answer" sighed Aaliyah slightly annoyed at how I was acting.

"It's his right to be wary Aaliyah, this machine rips through dimensions and back again, if done wrong it could rip you apart too" he explained, "now leave, I have to concentrate for this bit, but if you really want too you can stay and risk it going wrong? No? Thought so, also remember to get dressed in those clothes that I got for you." he said as we trudged out the door.

* * *

_"Their traveling north, towards the Saxon's lands." Gwaine said standing up._

_"Are you sure? We can lose them again" said Arthur._

_"Last time you didn't have me" he replied cockily. The rest followed on behind as they went ahead._

* * *

"God he gets in a grump when he does something delicate, remember when he blew up the garage when he caught us peeking through the crack in the door, and these clothes are really scratchy. Anyway stop being a wuss why don't you feel comfortable, do you not trust him?" Aaliyah asked rather harshly.

"Of course I trust him, he is the greatest wizard of all time, but I never knew he was well versed in technology." I queried.

"Well it makes sense, think about it, I know that's pretty hard for you but try. Being alive for thousands of years is gonna make you bored a bit, isn't it? He might as well learn all he can about anything to keep himself occupied for all that time."

"If you put it that way, yes I trust him but I still don't feel comfortable having myself ripped into pieces, thrown through gates of time and space, then get put together again on the other side."

"Come on, it's gonna be fine!" She reassured "come on, a sword fight to calm your nerves."

"Ha, I love your methods, you attempting to get close with a sword as I whack you around, you know me to well!" I taunted as we pulled out the practice swords. "Get ready to lose"

"You're on" she laughed as she launched the first attack. I easily dodged, spinning off her attacks with simple flicks of my sword. She attempted a lunge I blocked then spun her sword into the air before catching it.

"Look who's the winner!" I said with a smile while both the swords ended up pointed at her neck. She thrust out her hand causing the two swords to fly out my hands, they both landed with a thud in the ground behind me. "Cheat! It's called a sword fight for a reason" I exclaimed before pulling the swords out the ground again.

"Let's go and check Merlin, he should be finished by now." Aaliyah said while breathing heavily.

* * *

_"On me!" Arthur shouted before running towards the bandits. He took out the first bandit with a clean-cut to the stomach before Gwaine and Percival took out the two behind him. The group of bandits were attacking from all four directions. "It was a trap!" He shouted._

_"Well done Arthur." He heard Gwaine say. "Your skills in observation are matched by none."_

_"Shut up Gwaine." Said Percival, slightly peeved as he took out two more bandits with cuts to their necks._

* * *

"It's ready!" Merlin said with a gleam in his eyes. So a you both know what to do when you get there, correct?"

"We travel to when Mordred was about to kill Arthur and change the past by stopping him getting killed and then getting him to travel to the present." Aaliyah said.

"This is a one way trip, you should know that only Arthur can come back and you will have to stay back?"

"Yes we know, so can we get this over and done with" I asked in a slightly impatient mood.

"OK, this sword here is the same sword which Arthur used after he became king. It has been connected to its past version due to various enchantments and spells so all you have to do is hold the sword while I do the last enchantments, also once you get there you need to find a certain man, he has short dark hair, big ears, piercing grey eyes and about 26 years old, you need to tell him that I sent you from the future he'll understand." We reached over and touched the sword while Merlin started muttering an enchantment, he got louder and louder until he was shouting, his eyes glowed before there was a flash of light and then everything went black.

* * *

_There was only one bandit left, Arthur had stepped forward and the other knights had stepped back to allow him moving space. They knew that he always like to have the final kill. He moved first Arthur move forward parrying his block. The bandit quickly moved away, before running in again, swinging his sword like a maniac. Arthur lunged forward aiming for the bandit's stomach when there was a flash of light in front of him. Once he opened his eyes his sword was stuck in a boy's gut. He and a girl of darker skin had appeared in front of him, they were both grasping his sword._

* * *

An immense pain filled my stomach. I thought something had gone wrong with the spell. I looked down at the pain, a sword, Arthur's sword, was stuck deep in my flesh, Weirdly I felt relief that the spell had worked before I realised how stupid that was, I looked up and saw a pair of blue eyes staring at me in shock.

"Are you the knights of Camelot" I heard Aaliyah say. I heard one say yes before I fell on my back and I saw black.

* * *

I woke up to another pair of blue eyes, but older this time and slightly faded, staring at me intently. I tried to sit up, a sharp pain filled my stomach. I let out a groan, I hadn't felt this worse since I had appendicitis.

"Don't move you'll pull the stitches." The old man said. I looked around the room, I was in a sort of chemists, there was a young boy who looked twenty-five years old sat in a chair next to where I was laying then I saw Aaliyah, she was leaning against the nearest wall with her eyes closed. She dressed in some weird clothes. The old man had long white hair and had some sort of dress on. Then I remembered the flash of light with which we had traveled to the past with.

"Aaliyah" I gasped. "It worked!" I was full of relief, I saw Aaliyah's eyes snap open before giving me a warning look

"What worked?" The old man said. "I heard about that flash of light that you appeared in, can you tell me what that was?" He interrogated us.

"We'll only speak to that guy there." Aaliyah said pointing at the man who was on the chair. He was the same man who Merlin had described to us

"Me? Why?" He asked furrowing his eyebrows.

"We need to speak to you in private or we wont say anything at all" she said, Aaliyah could act really cold-hearted when she needed to be intimidating.

"Alright then," the young man said. "I'm Merlin what are your names?" We looked at him wide-eyed.

Aaliyah laughed "Of course, he would only trust himself wouldn't he" Aaliyah said with a grin. "So you must be Gaius then, am I right?" I said

"Yes you are, but how would you know from knowing Merlin? And where are you from? you both have very weird accents, don't you"

"Lots of questions! We're from London" I said

"Where's that?" Merlin asked

My jaw dropped, then I realised. "Oh yeah London doesn't exist yet does it!"

"Well done moron, shout it to the world. We're from the future" she explained managing to get both Merlin and Gaius to gasp.

"But that's extremely powerful magic, how did you do it?" Merlin asked

"We didn't, you did" I said. "You turned one thousand three hundred and thirty-four three days ago. In our time not yours" I hastily added on.

"Wow I get old" I said "do I look, decrepit?" Merlin asked. Aaliyah laughed.

"Nah, you only look about eighty-five." She was now grinning. Merlin was looking a bit upset.

"Wow, Merlin you become older than me!" He said laughing before asking "Now, what did you say your names are again?"

"She's Aaliyah and I'm Gwaine" I said

"I'll be right back, I knew I knew your face from somewhere", Merlin said after seeming to have a small epiphany before sprinting out the room.

* * *

_The knights were currently eating dinner at the barracks when Merlin came in, he sprinted through the door, tripped and nearly fell on the table in the middle of the room._

_"Merlin, watch out that's our dinner you almost destroyed, what happened?" Gwaine said _

_"You need to come with me, no one else." Merlin ordered_

_"Sorry lads, seems I'm needed" he said with a smile before following Merlin out the room. "So are you planning to tell me what you're doing? Keeping a man from his dinner is a bad idea."_

_"Wait until we get there" he said giving nothing away, turning down a corridor to the left. Five minutes later they were standing outside the door to Gaius's workshop. "In here is the boy and his friend, you need to see something." They went in, the first thing that Gwaine saw was a lot of blood, the boy was on the table, he had longish dark brown wavy hair and brown eyes and he was well-built for his age. What was weird was that he looked almost familiar. The girl was tall and had slightly curly dark brown hair falling to her shoulders, she was dressed in trousers and a tunic, unusual for a woman. Gaius and the girl looked at him, then she gasped she saw the similarities between the man who just walked in and Gwaine._

_"That can't be him, right?" Gwaine muttered before passing out again._

* * *

I woke up to people leaning over me. I recognised Aaliyah of course, then there was Gaius and Merlin next to her then standing further away was the man who had come in, he looked like a younger version of my dad, but that was impossible as this was over a thousand years in the past. Then I remember what Merlin had said once when he pulled me to the side after he first told us of his plan. One of my ancestors lived in Camelot as a knight when King Arthur was ruling. He was standing around in casual clothes grinning when he saw me open my eyes. "Hey there" he said

"Hi" I said, holding out my hand, he took it. "My names Gwaine" I said with a small smile. "Yours is Gwaine too right?" His smile faltered a bit.

"Yes I am, how did you know?" He asked frowning as he thought back to when he first saw the boy.

"Uh lucky guess" I said after being on the receiving end of one of Aaliyah's glares, seriously she would be able to burn through steel if she really tried. She walked this way.

"Great going duffus, you can't just tell everyone that we're from the future." She whispered too me when they weren't looking.

"Good guess then" he said. "What was that bright flash from before then, when you appeared in front of Arthur?"

"Apparently we had a spell cast on us to send us here but I can't remember what happened before we got here, after leaving home of course, I still feel like shit after getting shifted like that." Aaliyah lied; she was so calm when she said it she almost made me believe it to.

"I know it's the worst feeling ever, apart from getting stabbed in the stomach but hey, that's alright, I'm here." I said

"Unfortunately for us," Aaliyah said before I kicked her then winced at the pain in my stomach.

"Stop pulling the stitches!" Gaius shouted "conversations can wait until later!" He ordered the others out the room. "Gwaine, tell Arthur that these children had a spell cast on them which shifted them to him and that the boy I making a full recovery" Gaius ordered. "They do not deserve to die as they never used any magic"

After Gwaine had left Aaliyah asked. "Why can't people use magic here?"

"Because it's the law, the king before Arthur, Uther, declared that magic was evil and destroyed almost all of it twenty years ago, it was called the great purge. It left very few people with magic and even fewer magic creatures; anyone who gets caught using it now gets executed."

"But why doesn't Arthur change the law? "She asked

"Because magic was the cause of Uther's death, Arthur never forgave that."

* * *

_"And Gaius is sure that they didn't cast the spell?" Arthur asked, his voice full of concern._

_"He is sure; Gaius said that the left over magic on them doesn't match to their bodies." Reported the guard._

_"Very well, once the boy is well we shall give them supplies so they can get home." He ordered._

_"Gaius said that wasn't possible, they were sent from another dimension. The only sorcerer strong enough to do that is Morgana." He explained, treading carefully around the subject._

_"Very well, find a room in the castle for them to stay for temporary residence."_

_"I'll tell them about that, that all Sire?" He asked._

_"That is all"_

* * *

"You mustn't tell Gwaine who you are." Aaliyah said rather peeved that she was never told about my relation to the knight.

"I know I won't, I just slipped up ok? You know I say whatever first comes to my mind."

"Well try not to 'cause you could cause a ripple in the timeline, like Merlin said, and maybe even cause yourself to disappear!" She said showing real concern.

"Don't worry, I have it under control. It's not like I'll tell everyone that I'm Gwaine's great-grandson by a ton of generations will I?"

* * *

Once my stomach had healed to a point I was allowed to go on a walk around Camelot. Gaius wouldn't allow me to walk for long periods of time so I only saw small parts each day. "And that's the blacksmiths there" she said pointing to a sheltered area where Sir Elyan was working.

"Why does he work there?" I asked. "Doesn't he get paid for his knightly duties?"

"It's his hobby, he likes making things." She replied simply. We made our way back to the citadel to Gaius's rooms so he could check up on my wound before leaving to go to our room.

The next day it wasn't Aaliyah who was taking me round the castle but Gwaine. "Aaliyah is spending the day with Gwen; it seems that the two have an awful lot in common, so I volunteered."

"Why? Don't you have anything else to do?" I said before I realised what I said. "Sorry I didn't mean it like that, I say things that I don't mean sometimes."

"No worries I do that sometimes too, I have the day off today and the taverns closed. So, where to?" He asked.

"I've not seen the training ground, or the barracks." I said grinning.

"Really? On my day off I still seem to find my way back there!" He laughed, it sounded so similar to my own it was creepy. We walked back up the hill towards the citadel but turned left towards the training ground, it was a wide open space with targets and dummies in armour scattered around. I saw the weapon rack; I was over there as fast as my stomach allowed which was still considerably fast. The swords were some of the finest I had seen (bearing in mind that I had only seen two).

"You like your weapons?" Gwaine asked me.

"Yep, where I come from I'm the best swordsman around." I said, picking my words carefully. This was true as only me and Aaliyah practiced.

"I'll have to hold you to a challenge then. You've never said where you come from?" He asked, damn why did I bring up the subject

"It's very different from here, there is next to no magic but it's not against the law to practice it, partly because almost no one knows that it exists anyway. There are also a lot more people, the world is suffering from overpopulation, there are no forests like here, only big tall houses, like towers but people live on each floor, they reach into the sky, some of them are over a hundred floors high. There is something called pollution too, it's like a big mist but it's always there, you can't breathe in it either. Its better here than home." he added after a second a tear stared to formed in the corner of my eye.

"I know it's hard for you, not being able to get back, but even if it's as bad as you said surly you have family there, they would be worried, won't they" he asked.

"You have no idea" I said stormily, how dare he bring that subject up he has no right. I turned around and began to walk back to my room.

* * *

_"What did you do now, Gwaine?" Leon said seeing his friend's sour mood._

_"I was out giving young Gwaine a tour of the training grounds and barracks when I managed bring up his home, it sounds horrible there. There is no greenery, just glass towers as high as the eye can see with something called pollution which is basically a big toxic cloud. He said he was happier here than at home, I tried to cheer him up saying that his family are there so it wouldn't be all that bad but he took it the wrong way I think. He stormed of back to his rooms."_

_"That sounds horrible, no green. Wow. I never knew you could attempt to comfort someone, your always saying what comes to mind." He got a punch in the arm for that._

_"Seriously, this kid is different and I don't know why, and I'm going to find out" "He seems really familiar, he sort of reminds me of you." Leon suggested.  
_  
_"Well, when I'm annoyed I usually go to the tavern or sleep in my room."  
_  
_"I doubt that young Gwaine is old enough to go to the tavern, you need to think more."  
_  
_"I'll go to his rooms, or find Aaliyah, I think she'll know how to cheer him up."_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Surely I don't need another disclaimer? No more after the first, it counts for all. Also the story is set after the episode where they are at war with Queen Annis.

* * *

_Young Gwaine as it turned out wasn't in his room, neither was Aaliyah, he walked to Gaius's workshop as Merlin knew both of the children the most. He knocked on the door. "Merlin! Gaius! Are you in there?" he shouted._

_"Yeah, come in" Merlin replied._

* * *

I jumped at the sound of the knocking. "Merlin! Gaius! Are you in there?" Gwaine's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, come in" Merlin replied even after all of my silent protests. Gwaine opened the door, I scowled at him, I was sort of satisfied when he looked relatively hurt. "What do you need?" Gaius asked.

"I need to talk with Aaliyah." He asked, without making any eye contact with me, the coward, I thought.

"Ok then" she said smugly, obviously relishing in the fact that I was annoyed. They made their way out the door.

"Gwaine, why are you annoyed with him?" Gaius asked me.

"Annoyed with who?" I asked as innocently as I could manage.

"You know who I'm talking about, so what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong" I insisted.

"Come on Gwaine, a blind man could see that something's bothering you. So what is it?" He asked, god he was stubborn.

"He brought up my family when he was touring me around."

"And is that really something that's his fault? He's just like you; he says the first thing that comes to mind, and he's not good at apologising, or forgiving for that matter. You need to give him a chance." He said sympathetically. Though now I think about it, he didn't mean to bring the subject up; in fact it was me who first brought up the topic of home. Did I really mean it when I said that it was better here, of course I did, at home I have nothing, that's why I did this, to go to a new world. This will be my home now.

"I guess so." I said unsure, "but you said it before, I'm bad at apologising."

"All you need to say is sorry, it's not hard" Merlin said.

"Merlin! Don't be so insensitive."

"No Gaius, he's right, I just need to man up and do it." I said.

"What's 'man up'?" Merlin asked.

"It's what you say when you need to be brave" I said, for the past week and a half I've been here I keep getting asked questions about different words and phrases that I use which they have never heard of, it was annoying at first but I've got used to it.

* * *

Once they were out of the door Gwaine led Aaliyah to his rooms in the castle. "Why does Gwaine not like talking about his family?" he asked

"I have no idea" she said. "Out of the twelve years I've known him he's never mentioned them and if they're brought up in conversation he just disappears, he lived on his own since he was little and doesn't usually get along with others, especially if there important.

"Sounds familiar, so how would I apologise to him? I know he's like me, and I'm not really good at feelings, so?"

"Just say sorry and mean it, that's all it takes." She said.

* * *

The next I saw of Gwaine was when the king requested that we would eat with him; he wanted everyone who was involved there so they could discuss what they would do when I had fully recovered, my bandage had come off now but it still hurt if I twisted in a certain way. Aaliyah and I both arrived at the same time, the king was there with Gwen, and Gaius and Merlin had arrived just before us. "So what do you plan to do when your better Gwaine." Gwen asked once I sat down. I had never had a real conversation with the queen other than small talk.

"Well I don't know really, I thought maybe I could stay here?" I asked. "Get a job somewhere or somethin'."

"Surely that's all right, Arthur, it would be all right if they were to stay in Camelot, wouldn't it?"

"I see no problem with it." He said before asking. "But what job were you hoping to get?"

"I don't know much about work here but I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into before I do." I said with a smile. Gwaine walked in, Aaliyah rested her hand on mine, my eyes widened, I wasn't sure if it was affectionate or only reassuring.

"From what he's said he's a damn good swordsman."

"He is. He's beaten me with his eyes closed once." Aaliyah said. Since when did she defend me like this?

"I doubt it's hard to beat a woman like you, Aaliyah" Gwaine saying the first thing that came to mind, also making a big mistake at the same time. Aaliyah stood up.

"Tomorrow Gwaine, I'm going to beat you hard. I'm sorry." She said with a barely suppressed anger, before leaving.

"Gwaine, you have a bad habit of making people dislike you." I said. "A hint of advice, never go after Aaliyah when she's angry or she'll bite your head off, I mean get really angry with you."

"What am I doing wrong?" Gwaine asked me once she had left.

"You're doing the same as I do, she eventually gets used to it don't worry. And for the record, she probably could destroy you in a sword fight." I said.

"On the subject of sword fights, you owe me a challenge." He said smiling.

"If you're prepared to lose, be warned, I've practiced since I was five." I said proudly

"Five! I only started when I was twelve."

"Well then you've still had more experience than me so at least you'll be a challenge." I said smirking. It was unspoken but we had managed to make up without any apology necessary. Apart from an angry Aaliyah to deal with the day just got better.

* * *

The next day Aaliyah and I made our way to the training field. "You wanna warm up?" I asked.

"Yeah sure, I want to be ready for when I completely destroy that twat" she said, we went to the weapon rack. We picked our swords, blunt to make sure we didn't hurt each other.

"What's a twat?" I heard Gwaine say from behind us, he picked a bad time to show up.

"It's what you call someone who is a complete idiot who says anything that comes to mind even if it's rude or offensive. No offence." She said to me.

"Well that's nice isn't it?" He replied. "Carry on, I want to see how you two fight."

"Fine" she said anger creeping into her voice once more. We moved over to the training field. We got into fighting stance. "You ready." she asked.

"As soon as you are." I said. She lunged at me straight off the bat, I only just moved to the side.

"What?" She said innocently. "I thought you were ready." She lunged again, I parried the sword before twisting it out her hands in the way that she hates.

"Aaliyah, you need to stay calm, that's when you're at your best." I said offering advice.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." She said

"No need to apologies to me, just concentrate." I said before tossing her sword back. We got into stance, this time I struck first with a powerful blow which she managed to parry. We started to fight like we did when we were both completely focused, our dance commenced. It was an impressive show to behold. We strung together parries and blocks with counter strikes and lunges, no one getting an advantage. Our eyes were locked so that we could predict each of each other's moves. Then I saw an opening, she had let her guard down so that she could perform a strong blow one that would have let her win if I didn't bring my sword to her throat, this entire sequence taking an entire five minutes. I had won. We were drenched in sweat and heaving. I saw Gwaine looking in awe.

"What, afraid you can get beaten by a woman." Aaliyah taunted in Gwaine's direction once her breathing was back to normal.

"We haven't trained like that since 'that' happened have we?" I asked.

"I don't believe we have." She said smiling. The smile though turned to a scowl when she saw Gwaine walk over.

"I have never seen anything like that my entire life, Aaliyah please accept my apology I'm sorry I said what I did last night." I gasped, I never expected him to do that. I thought that we were similar, perhaps he was intimidated, I certainly would be if I saw us fighting like that.

"Apology accepted Gwaine, though next time, don't underestimate a woman." She smirked.

* * *

After we were washed and dressed, we really stank after that session, we were surprised when Merlin came knocking on our door saying that the King requested our presence. "Don't ask me why 'cause I don't know." He said after we asked.

We made our way down to the throne room where Arthur and his knights were sat at their table. When we walked in Arthur looked up from the maps which were laid out on the table "Ah, Gwaine, Aaliyah, you've arrived." He said. I spotted Gwaine turning round to look at us with a confused look.

"Sire, why did you ask for us?" Aaliyah asked.

"Our soldiers are spread thin at the moment and I saw you training today, it was truly exceptional, I would like you two to accompany the knights around the northern boarders, there have been numerous raids by bandits there so we have had to increase the patrols that go there. You will only be gone for a short time. And you will need to be ready at dawn to leave. If you accept?" He asked.

"We would be honoured Sire." I said not seeing Aaliyah's expression, inside I felt like jumping for joy but I managed to control myself. We stayed until the end of the meeting when we left once we were far from the hall Aaliyah pulled me aside.

"How dare you accept something like that for me!" She said brimming with anger.

"It's not like it's something you can deny." I argued.

"At least you could have let me speak for myself!" She said. She marched off, what was up with her? After all these years it seemed that she still couldn't handle my impulsiveness.

* * *

That night not another word was heard from Aaliyah other than simple phrases like 'can you pass me my sword', not even a goodnight. It hurt me deeply, we were like brother and sister, for the last few years we were almost inseparable. Now she was giving the cold shoulder, which she never did to me, I felt lonely. She also went and damn time travelled with me, I'm sure that no one else would have done that with him.

"Goodnight sis." I said.

* * *

The next day we were woken up by a servant. He told us we were to be ready and in the courtyard in one hour. We bathed quickly and got dressed before wolfing down our breakfast. We got to the courtyard a bit earlier than everyone else.

"Morning." I said when Percival and Gwaine walked out of the castle.

"Bit eager aren't you?" Gwaine said.

Aaliyah now wearing her usual scowl said. "We didn't want to be late." We got on our horses, it was half a day's ride it the northern border. They would patrol along the North West towards the east before setting up camp over night, we would then travel back in the morning and arrive at midday back at Camelot. It was simple. The ride was smooth and so was the first patrol. We settled down for the night in a small clearing. Me and Aaliyah had to get firewood while the others set up camp. Aaliyah had not said a word since yesterday morning and I was worried for her.

"What's wrong Aaliyah?" I said after we were out of earshot of the knights. "I thought you wanted to come?" I knelt down to pick up a particularly large piece of wood.

"Of course I wanted to come, but I need to speak of my own accord, I need to be seen as independent from you, I need to be your equal." She said.

"You're overreacting! You are my equal!"

"To you yes, but not them!" she gestured back to camp.

"Gwaine doesn't think that nor did Arthur, especially after training."

"But it's the other knights I need to prove my worth to."

"You don't need to prove your worth to anyone. At the round hall meeting I only said what I thought was right."

"But what you thought was wrong." She said simply. "Anyway, we need to get back. I don't want them to worry." They walked back to the campsite where we dumped the wood in a pile. Eventually there was a small fire which grew as they set up their bedrolls. We all sat down after and ate dinner, I was sat next to Percival on one side of the fire and Aaliyah and Gwaine were on the other. We ate in an uncomfortable silence, partly because me and Aaliyah were staring at each other and Gwaine and Percival had no idea what was going on.

Percival leaned over. "Did you two have a fight or something?"

"How d'you know?"

"Your down and she looks angry and you're staring at each other. And you haven't spoken all day." He added in.

"It's nothing, I'm sure we'll get over it" I said trying to reassure myself more than him.

* * *

We settled down for sleep, I kept first watch while the others slept. After an hour I woke Percival up and got up for a piss. I went pretty far from camp before emptying my bladder my in a bush. Suddenly I heard a shout and a crash, I spun around. Back at camp I could see lots of movement. I snuck up to the clearing, Gwaine and Percival lay on the floor, seemingly asleep. There were bandits everywhere, too many for me to fight alone even with Aaliyah by my side. I saw a shadow move on the other side of the clearing. It was coming round the side towards me.

I moved round towards it, not making a single sound. I have always been sneaky, going to places I shouldn't. I could even sneak past Merlin who could detect movements. I hid behind a gnarled tree. The shadow moved right past me, it was Aaliyah. I moved behind her and quickly brought my hand to her mouth silencing any screams. She saw it was me and calmed down. She looked towards the clearing but I shook my head, we couldn't face all of them, from what I counted there was at least thirty. She understood. The bandits picked the knights up and carried them into the forest. We tracked them staying just out of sight but where we could still see them. There was a small valley ahead which all the bandits were filing into. They were moving along a path at the bottom into a cave.

After we saw the last of them go in we ran as silently as we could to the entrance. We peered round the corner, there were two guards leaning against the wall looking extremely grumpy. I motioned for Aaliyah, I told her to take out the one on the left while I took the other. We charged forward without a sound, the guards didn't have time to scream before being cut down. We carried on into the cave where we met a fork in the path. "Alright, split up, I'll go down the right path and you the left. Meet back in half an hour and wait outside, even if we don't find them, then we'll decide what to do next. She nodded, she may be argumentative but she also knows when she needs to listen. We split up.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I'm not sure if I'll use all of the series' episodes or make stuff up but I'm definitely going to use a few certain episodes cause I got some ideas! Also I'm sorry I've not posted as my girlfriend was around for the while and she didn't appreciate the effort I put into stories for you. Please review! I like getting feedback on the goods and bads of the story. :)

After a temporary truce between Gwaine and me, I decided to follow his orders for once, yes decided, I choose to follow them. I heard some bandits walking through the cave, judging from the sound there were only two. I ducked to the side and attempted a cloaking spell, thankfully it worked. They stopped next to where I was hiding, I hoped that my spell would last. "God, Gar's relieved that he's got those two, he's been looking for knights of Camelot since Morgana threatened to kill him. Go send word to Morgana." The other ran ahead while the other went back the way the two had come. I decided to call him Moustache as he had a great caterpillar of hair upon his lip.

I started to follow Moustache. He went down a few different forks in the road, I tried my hardest to remember the different directions, oh well I would remember when I got back. He stopped outside an entrance, knocked on the door and entered. I hurried after him before the door closed trying not to be seen or heard as my cloaking spells still needed work. The first thing I saw was a huge man, I gasped before holding my hand over my mouth. The huge guy (now known as Big) turned and looked at me. Now I had a better view of him he was really big, bigger than Percival, I guessed around eight feet tall, he had to stoop even though the roof wasn't that low.

"Now what do we have here?" he said, dammit my spell had worn off when I gasped and lost concentration. "Caves aren't playgrounds for little kids; you never know what you can find, bandits, thieves, maybe even monsters."

"Actually I'm eighteen in less than year." I said defiantly. I saw Gwaine and Percival in a cell behind him. "And thieves and bandits are kids play, monsters might be a challenge but nothing I can't handle."

"And who might you be anyway, I know you're not a knight of Camelot?" He said.

"Well done, I'm a girl! Your brain is just too smart for me isn't it?" I taunted him buying me time. I needed to find the keys to the cell behind them.

"Go call the guards, I probably don't need them but there might be more of them" he ordered angrily. Moustache ran past me and before I could stop him he had ran off.

"No one makes a fool of me and gets away with it." And with that Big pulled out his sword from his back, a great long one which probably won't be very useful in the limited space. I heard shouts, Moustache must have got to the alarm, but that meant that Gwaine was coming and I'd like to see all of them try to take him down, not that I couldn't, it's just that I was stuck in the current predicament.

XxXxXxXxXxX

I heard more shouts then footsteps as bandits towards the way out, I followed the bandits back to the entrance but instead of going out they went down the route that Aaliyah had taken. They went down some more splits and turns which I memorised for our escape. The bandits lead me to a crowd of them. They were all cheering and booing around the entrance of a room. I drew my swords; there was a time for discretion and a time for fighting. The bandit nearest head my swords coming out of their scabbards and turned around, he shouted in surprise before I cut him down at the feet of his comrades. I smirked at them. "Who's next?" I asked.

XxXxXxXxXxX

I heard the yelp. Gwaine was here, I felt kind off sorry that the bandits didn't have much of a chance at beating him. I suddenly ducked under a swing of Big's sword as I remembered that I was currently in a fight myself and should concentrate. He was slow and couldn't move properly without the space. I jabbed at him, he jumped back rather ungracefully and hits the back of his head on the cell bars. He blinked in surprise. With stars in his eyes I darted behind him, the keys were on a hook. I grabbed them and went to unlock the cell door but stopping after figuring that it would be no use anyway as the knights were unconscious. Big had recovered from his head banging and swung at me. I ducked again and he over swung hitting the bars behind me. The noise rang out like a bell waking up Gwaine and Percy. Once they were functional I tossed them the keys.

XxXxXxXxXxX

I walked into the room after dealing with the bandits, I saw Aaliyah tossing keys to Gwaine and Percy. There was a huge man behind her (I presume the leader) getting up. He moved to swing at her. I called out a warning. She ducked and span around then leaped, bringing up her sword to draw a line of blood on his chest. She snarled before cutting his throat. He fell to his knees before collapsing on the floor. Gwaine unlocked the door to his cell and got out.

"Thank you Aaliyah" Percy said.

"Yeah thanks" Gwaine added.

"Hey, you two take a look out there; I wouldn't have been able to fight both the bandits and Big without Gwaine." We walked out and saw the mess that he made with the bandits.

"Thanks." I whispered as I walked past Aaliyah. The two knights gasped.

"Gwaine how many were there?"

"I counted about twenty." I said.

"Wow." Was all they could say.

"I couldn't do it without Aaliyah though. She took down 'Big' as she called him. Without her I wouldn't have been able to do this." The knights nodded in agreement. We walked back out of the room.

"Uh guys do you know the way out?" Aaliyah asked.

"Yep, I memorised it like someone should have." I glared at her but smiled after so she knew I wasn't mad. When we were walking back out of the cave Aaliyah came up to me.

"Thanks as well." She said.

"Think of it as repayment." I said with a grin.

XxXxXxXxXxX

When we got to the entrance it was midday. I remembered that our horse had been taken as well. I told the others what I was doing. We went in and split up to make searching quicker. I found them before shouting to the others to get out. We rode back to Camelot as fast as the horses would allow. Once we were back we made sure that the horses were well fed and got some rest after our travels. We hurried to the throne room where a table meeting was in order. We went in.

"We're back." Gwaine said smiling. "Hope we didn't keep you waiting.

I'm sorry we're but we were kidnapped by some bandits, they drugged us and carried us off." Percival said.

"How ever did you escape?" Arthur asked.

"Aaliyah and Gwaine were never caught; they managed to break into their hideout and break us free. They also eliminated all of the bandits in the area."

"All of them? Are you sure?" he asked surprised.

"We are pretty sure, Aaliyah took out the leader while I took out more than twenty bandits" I said.

"That's quite a feat."

"It's true; I've never seen fighting like that in my life."

"There is something else sire." Aaliyah said

"What is it." Arthur asked concerned.

"Before the leader of the bandits caught me listening, he said something about Morgana. She exists where we come from, if she's anything like what she is there then we're in trouble." She said.

"You're sure he said Morgana?" He asked warily.

"I'm sure"

"Very well, you all must be hungry; dinner will be served within the hour up in your rooms." He dismissed us to leave but asked Percival and Gwaine to stay for the remainder of the meeting. "Oh, and could you both be available tomorrow at eight for training with the knights? You never know when we might need your assistance." He said with a smile.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Guinevere, what do you think you would call a female knight?"

"Arthur I know what you're thinking."

"Father wouldn't approve."

"Arthur! I know it is important to you what your father thinks but you need to do what is right. You have already made commoners knights and you have married me. The kingdom believes in you and that's what counts." She said. "And I would call her a Dame."

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Thank you Gwaine, again."

"It's alright sis." I said. "Why were you angry at me before?" I asked.

"You know when Gwaine made that comment at the dinner two nights ago, from then on I needed to prove that I'm just as good as any of them." She admitted. "I know that's stupid but I felt I needed to." There was a knock on our door. "Come in" Aaliyah shouted. "What is it?" She said when Merlin came in.

"I need to ask you something. Why are you here, I mean why did you come back in time?" He asked.

"We're not allowed to say without upsetting the timeline, well nothing that important." I said.

"We're also making a new life here." She said, "We both have nothing to live for back there."

"Wow is it that bad?"

"It's worse than you think actually." I added.

"Ok then, well if you ever need any help, you don't need to tell me why but just ask, ok?" he asked after a pause.

"Clear." Aaliyah said. "Now we need our sleep 'cause we're joining in with the knights training tomorrow so good night." She said rather harshly but with good reason as the conversation was headed somewhere they did not want it to go.

"Goodnight then." He said before leaving without another word.

XxXxXxXxXxX

The next day we were up and at 'em at seven, we got dressed and had breakfast. We walked through the castle to the barracks where we struggle to find some chain mail that fit us, we hurried to the training ground where we just got there for eight when the knights were warming up. Most of the knights hadn't seen us fight yet and were sceptical that two seventeen year olds could outfight them. These were namely the one of noble blood. Arthur arrived. "Recently two of our knights had been drugged and captured by bandits. They weren't held for long though as two young warriors who were accompanying them evaded capture and fought there way into their hideout before releasing them." He said. "The same young people are here to pass on their skills to you, do not underestimate them." He gestured to us, Aaliyah gave a little wave.

"Are you sure Arthur, they don't even look of age and one is a woman! I don't think they have skills to pass to us!" One of the knights said indignantly. I face palmed and I heard Gwaine sigh. I felt Aaliyah shake with anger next too me.

"Gwaine, can I take the first class: respect to a woman?"

"Be my guest." I said fearing for my life if I stopped her which turned to fear for the man's. She stormed towards the man who made the comment and drew her sword, she looked at Arthur for permission, he nodded with an amused smile on his face. The other man drew his sword. The other knights made a circle around them I saw Gwaine make a silent bet with one of the other knights.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

"For what?" He said mockingly. Suddenly she rushed at him swinging up on his left side, he only just knocked the block aside. Good at least she was focused, on winning anyway. She had her balance right I thought as she was pressing more attacks on the knight. He was looking worried, he had only just knocked a cut to the side when she knocked him on his back despite the obvious size difference. Her anger was beginning to cool down as she looked at the knights slightly horrified look.

"Anyone else? No? Good." She rejoined me before we went to the king bowing our heads respectively. "Sire, no offence but your knights have no respect for woman." I held my breath, she had gone too far.

"I agree." He said. "They don't, but they should have a reason to now." He said grinning. All I had ever seen from the king was royalty and pompousness. I had not seen him grin before. Seems he was surprising me more every day.

"I want you to split the group into two and supervise them, don't be afraid to send them to me if they are rude." He said. We went back towards the group.

XxXxXxXxXxX

(Aaliyah)

I moved in front of the crowd of knights. I had already humiliated one of the knights and I wished that I didn't have to do so with all of them, I didn't have enough stamina. "Alright!" I shouted. "Split yourselves into two groups don't care how just make sure your equal." All of them moved over towards Gwaine apart from Percival, older Gwaine amd Leon. The knights, not wanting to get taught by a woman even after my show, made a big mistake. Percy and Gwaine smiled knowingly, they knew that Gwaine was better than me and the others had made a mistake. And from what I heard Leon had no qualms about women in general as he knew that Gwen was an exceptionally strong woman herself. "You may have not seen him fight but Gwaine is better than I am by tenfold."

"We'll take our chances!" One of them shouted.

"Fine, all people with names beginning with A through to M come to me all others stay there." I shouted, half of them groaned and the others smirked. N through to Z would regret there decision.

XxXxXxXxXxX

I knew what Aaliyah was thinking, they had made a bad mistake, dispute my normally jokey self I was a gruelling teacher (Aaliyah's words not mine), when Aaliyah first learned to hold a sword it was me who taught her how to use it. She used to get really stroppy during the sessions (due to my teaching) but by the end she was glad of them, sort of.

So what am I supposed to do? Show them fighting and ask them to copy it? There were about thirteen in my group. The only person I had ever taught was Aaliyah but that was one on one and therefore easier.

"Ok what were going to do is split into pairs and fight, I'll go against the spare and swap regularly. I'll swap with everyone so I'll end up fighting all of you. While we fight I'll pick out points for you to improve on." That being said we moved into position and started. I was against Percival first since no one liked to get beaten so easily as they did with him. I got into fighting stance and he lifted his sword into the air. I circled him, moving so the sun shone onto his face, he realised what I was doing and moved in before I could finish. The strike was a simple swing towards my chest. I jumped back out the way of the blade, he struck again, much closer this time. I parried the blade upwards easily as if it was a stick before stepping in close. "You need to be wary of your defence, by attacking you left your guard open. I thought the knights of Camelot were better than this." I taunted him, he growled in slight anger. "Don't get angry friend, it is not good." He pulled away from me, once again moving the sword into his normal position. This time I moved first. As quick as lightning my sword came up in a sweep which he sidestepped. I spun slightly, reacting to his movement before my sword shone in the light, coming down on his back. If he was not wearing armour or my weapon not dulled he would have died for sure.

"I have not seen anyone else fight like that but you and her" he said gesturing to the other crowd. "Even though you were going easy on me you were so fast, and the control of your blade was amazing. Don't deny that you were, I could tell, I've seen you fighting before and now was nothing like what you did."

"Thanks, you need to work on your defence." I said becoming the teacher once more. "Your overall strength and skill with a sword is undeniable but if someone can get passed your attacks, your gone." I said pointing out the flaws. I moved onto my next victim.

And that was how it went until eleven o'clock when both groups joined together to try to get a hit on either me or Aaliyah. They failed. After that we had lunch. I smiled when I saw that Aaliyah's group looked considerably happier than mine, I had pushed them to the brink and back again. Once we had eaten Aaliyah and I had taken off the armour an went up to our quarters to have a bath and relax (even though we were the teachers we were still knackered).

"God that was tiring." She said. "I now have a new found respect for you. How you managed to teach me I'll never know."

"It was hard for me as well." I argued. "You were stubborn and very stroppy." I smirked.

"Me? Stroppy? Never!"

"Yes, of course you weren't. You were the best student I had."

"I was the only student you had!"

"You were still the best." She pouted. We got ready for bed and fell asleep.

XxXxXxXxXxX


End file.
